California Codes
Cal. Civil Code § 1647 (2026)
✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
CA-LEGleginfo.legislature.ca.gov
JustiaCode on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
A contract may be explained by reference to the circumstances under which it was made, and the matter to which it relates.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 181
cases (37 in the last 5 years), 1941–2026 · leading case: People v. Shelton, 125 P.3d 290 (Cal. 2006).
People v. Shelton, 125 P.3d 290 (Cal. 2006). “To resolve the ambiguity, we consider the circumstances under which this term of the plea agreement was made, and the matter to which it relates (Civ.Code, § 1647) to determine the sense in which the prosecutor and the trial court (the promisors) believed, at the time of making…”
Kashmiri v. Regents of the Univ. of California, 67 Cal. Rptr. 3d 635 (Cal. Ct. App. 2007). “The increases to the PDF in 2002, the University maintains, was not for the purpose of achieving parity, but for the purpose of dealing with the state’s fiscal problems.”
Mountain Air Enters., LLC v. Sundowner Towers, LLC, 398 P.3d 556 (Cal. 2017). “( Civ. Code, § 1647 )." ( Xuereb v. Marcus & Millichap, Inc .”
DVD Copy Control Assn., Inc. v. Kaleidescape, Inc., 176 Cal. App. 4th 697 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009). “" (Civ. Code, § 1647.) Any uncertainty or ambiguity "must be interpreted in the sense in which the promisor [Kaleidescape] believed, at the time of making it, that the promisee [DVDCCA] understood it.”
People v. Honig, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5920 (Cal. Ct. App. 1996). “(Civ. Code, § 1647; Code Civ. Proc., § 1860.”
T. M. Cobb Co. v. Superior Court, 682 P.2d 338 (Cal. 1984). “Code, §§ 1643, 3541), the contract may be explained by references to the circumstances under which it was made (Civ. Code, § 1647, Code Civ. Proc., § 1860), and all applicable laws in existence become a part thereof as fully as if incorporated by reference ( Mulder v.”
Jeremy Revitch v. Directv, LLC, 977 F.3d 713 (9th Cir. 2020). “” Cal. Civ. Code § 1647 . Here, when Revitch signed his wireless services agreement with AT&T Mobility so that he could obtain cell phone services, he could not reasonably have expected that he would be forced to arbitrate an unrelated dispute with DIRECTV, a satellite…”
In re Marriage of Nassimi, 3 Cal. App. 5th 667 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016). “(Civ. Code, § 1647; Medical Staff of Doctors Medical Center in Modesto v.”
Badie v. Bank of Am., 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8189 (Cal. Ct. App. 1998). “) We may consider the circumstances under which an agreement was made, including its object, nature, and subject matter (Civ. Code, § 1647; Western Camps, Inc. v.”
Spinks v. Equity Residential Briarwood Apts., 171 Cal. App. 4th 1004 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009). “” (Civ. Code, § 1647.) “In determining the meaning of a written contract allegedly made, in part, for the benefit of a third party, evidence of the circumstances and negotiations of the parties in making the contract is both relevant and admissible.”
Deerpoint Grp., Inc. v. Agrigenix, LLC, 345 F. Supp. 3d 1207 (E.D. Cal. 2018). “" Cal. Civ. Code § 1647 ; Hess , 27 Cal.4th at 524 , 117 Cal.”
Cedars-Sinai Med. Ctr. v. Shewry, 2006 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2371 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006). “(Civ. Code, § 1647; Morey v. Vannucci (1998) 64 Cal.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.